PunkLee: Everland
by Punk Drunk Love
Summary: Written into a RAW storyline together, Punk develops real feelings for A.J., which result in an unexpected pregnancy. When Punk realizes the baby is growing too fast, he seeks out John Cena for help. Punk soon discovers that his newborn may be next in line to be the real-life Peter Pan, and the current Pan wants Punk to be his own personal lost boy.
1. One

Author's Note: This is a short story I wrote about two years ago featuring CM Punk and A.J. Lee after their pairing on RAW. I've done a couple of re-writes on it, but the original version still looks the best to me, so here it is with very minor editing. Some of the roster members featured in the story are no longer with WWE. It is also largely inspired by the surrealism of Peter Pan (Created by J.M. Barrie) and his lost boys. I had also watched a film at the time called Neverland (2003), in which Wendy is a young African American woman and Hook is a pimp.

I don't claim to own any rights to WWE or its affiliates. This story is for entertainment purposes, only.

One:

_I've never been one who rests easy._

I do better when I'm sleeping with someone else. Women, preferably, but I have had to bite the bullet and sleep with a guy or two on occasion. It's not meant to be sexual, just a way to save money while on the road. Even wrestlers penny pinch sometimes.

My in-ring persona, CM Punk, is much like my true self, Phillip Jack Brooks. Labels don't define me. I wouldn't say I'm straight, but I wouldn't say I'm gay, either. I'm just me. Girls don't ask, they just assume I'm straight if I'm having sex with them. I slept with a guy once in high school, but it didn't mean anything and I never brought it up to anyone. Maybe that was my mistake. I neglected to define myself and so _he _pushed.

_In retrospect, I probably would've let him in anyway._

"What time is it, Phil?" asked A.J.

She was staying with me, tonight. It wasn't for sex but to get some well deserved sleep. Try explaining that to a roster full of meat-headed males pumped up on testosterone who can make girls orgasm just by giving them a signature 'glance-and-smirk.'

"It's about eleven," I told her, double checking the clock radio on the bedside table with my watch to be sure.

I'd been late before because of hotel radios being wrong, and I wasn't going to let it happen again. With a sweet smile, April sank down under the covers and rolled over on her side to face away from me. I climbed into bed and lay down on top of the covers. I took a moment to glance at A.J. She was quiet and probably already asleep.

Sleep was not my friend, but I figured I could count little Jericho's jumping over the top rope in my mind until I did doze off. I turned off the light next to me and closed my eyes, trying my best not to let my mind wander so I didn't keep myself awake.

* * *

I had rolled over on my stomach at some point, because that's how I woke up. Something wet touched the back of my neck. It felt like a pair of lips and the first thought in my mind was that someone was kissing me. I doubted that thought enough to decide on another and I smacked it with my left hand, thinking it had to be a spider.

THWACK!

There was nothing under my hand. April heard the smack and jerked awake. I sat up on my elbows as she switched the light on her side and asked me quickly, "What the hell was that?!"

I shook my head and replied calmly, "I felt something on my neck and I thought it was a spider."

_Wrong thing to say when a chick's in bed with you._

April screamed and threw the blankets off. She rushed out of the bed and stood there staring at me like I should be doing something. I rolled over on my back and patted the bed for her to come back as I explained, "There's not a spider in here. I was probably just half-awake and dreamed it."

She swallowed hard and reluctantly came back to bed, checking under the covers and even beating her pillow around a few times to make sure. I rolled my eyes at her, so she argued, "I was just fluffing it!"

"Uh-huh," I snorted laughter.

"It's not funny, Punk!" she never used my ring name outside of an audience unless she was really mad.

I put my hands up in defeat and told her, "I'm sorry, alright? I'm just frustrated."

She lay back and slammed her head against her pillow. We were quiet for a few seconds, then I asked to tease her, "I thought for a second someone kissed the back of my neck. Were you trying to pull a fast one on me?"

This time, it was she who rolled her eyes. April rolled over away from me and argued, "IN YOUR DREAMS, PHILLIP!"

_She wants me._

* * *

We were headed to the next city about four hours away. April and I were carpooling with John Cena and Tyler Reks. When it came to an icon like John and a mammoth with dreadlocks like Reks, we weren't exactly well disguised.

People were honking their horns and waving at us as they passed us on the highway. A few cars swerved to avoid hitting other people just to tail us for a while. Thank Jeebus John was driving. His skills behind the wheel of a car outmatched most people I knew. I also felt like, if we were to crash and burn, he would me one of the few guys on the roster who would_ try _to save me.

"Oh my gosh, this is crazy!" April scooted closer to me in case someone side-swiped us.

"Maybe I shoulda worn a hat," John joked as he glanced back at us in the rear-view mirror.

He was the kind of guy who could say something in the most tense of situations and it'd make anyone feel better. He was also a Sir Lancelot and didn't like seeing damsels in distress, so I figured the jokes were more of a benefit to A.J.

She did smile and I shot back to keep the joke going, "Don't you usually wear a hat?"

"Yeah, but Ryback farted in it this morning because I kept calling him Skip," Cena retorted.

We all laughed. Even Tyler Reks, who was usually so serious looking, I thought he was allergic to jokes.

A black SUV came up from behind us and pulled in close. They were on April's side and she was practically in my lap trying to stay out of the way in case they hit. John didn't try to move away from them and I saw him glance at the person in the passenger's seat. The windows were tinted and the sun was creating a glare, so I had no clue who was in there. John suddenly shot up his middle finger and put it against the window so the people in the SUV could see it.

_They better be fellow roster members or we're so gonna get fined._

The SUV blared its horn and took off. April got out of my lap and asked Cena, "Who was that?"

"McIntyre and Sheamus," John chuckled.

"We should totally run them down, later," Reks mentioned, making Cena laugh harder.

"You okay?" I asked April when I saw that she was still upset.

John glanced back at her from the rear-view mirror and added seriously, "I could pull over if you need a minute."

"No, I'm okay, I'm fine," April shook her head.

We all knew she wasn't. Reks turned his head to look back at her and asked, "You want to listen to some music? I have Bob Marley on my iPod."

"Thanks," April smiled.

Reks pulled a tiny blue iPod from his pocket and handed it to April. He took much longer getting out the pair of ear buds because they had tangled themselves around a silver pen.

"Sorry," he said, handing her the rest of the gear.

April put the buds in her ears and started listening. I could hear the faded sound of reggae playing through the buds as April settled into her seat and closed her eyes. It was loud enough that she couldn't hear the rest of us as John asked me over his shoulder, "Is something wrong with her?"

"Yeah, you were with her last night, weren't you?" Reks pointed out like Captain Obvious.

I folded my arms and answered gruffly, "I freaked her out last night when I said there was a spider in the bed."

I could see Cena's eyes grow wide in the rear-view mirror. He countered jokingly, "Punk, you should know better than to try and entice a girl by hiding your boner under the covers and pretending it's a spider!"

Reks laughed and added, "A snake, maybe, but I only think that works for The Viper!"

Cena laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. I shook my head at both of them and argued, "It wasn't like that you geeks."

John could tell I was getting frustrated so he calmed down and asked more seriously, "What happened, then?"

I replied with a shrug, "It felt like something was on my neck and I told April it was a spider. She flipped out. I think she's still kind of upset about it."

"Well, she'll get over it," Reks pointed out.

"Then you play 'find the flashlight' with her!" Cena teased, making Reks laugh out loud.

I couldn't help chuckling myself and Cena told me with a smirk, "I got you to laugh! I really am amazing."

"Yeah, you're really gifted," I told him sarcastically.

He shot back, "At least I don't get girls all hot talking about spiders in the bed!"

Reks started laughing again and I knew I would not be living this down anytime soon. I turned my attention to April and watched her small chest slowly rising and falling. It surprised me when I realized she had fallen asleep.

_She must've stayed awake after the whole spider incident. Now I really feel bad._

* * *

As soon as we pulled up to the arena, I woke up April and we went searching for the food truck. I didn't realize how much I was starving until we came upon it and my stomach made a loud grumble. Beth Phoenix was passing by and she tried to cover her mouth to stifle laughter. I shrugged it off and went to grab a plate.

"I'll see you later, Phil. I'm going to the locker room," April told me.

I just nodded over my shoulder at her and I heard her walk away. I assumed there were others around me as I filled my plastic plate to the breaking point and turned around to find a seat next to someone I could talk to.

I was surprised to see that nobody was around. Even the food truck employees were gone. I double checked my food to make sure it wasn't somehow the stuff they were throwing out. It didn't look food-poisony, so I decided to try my luck and sat down at the nearest empty picnic table.

The silence lasted longer than I thought. I was busy eating throughout most of it, but I found myself glancing up every minute or so, waiting for someone to come in or even walk by. When half an hour passed and I hadn't seen a soul, I finished what was left on my plate and got up to leave.

"You outta here, Punk?" Daniel Bryan asked from behind me.

I whirled around to face him. He had startled me, but I acted like I already knew he was there as I replied, "Yeah, I'm out."

"Oh, that's too bad," Bryan shook his head.

He sounded like he really wanted to talk to me. I didn't need to be in the locker room for a few hours, so I said, "I think I'll stick around a while."

Bryan made a huge toothy smile and went to grab a plate. I sat down and watched him for a minute, unsure of why he was so...enthusiastic about me.

We were friends and had been in the industry together since before WWE. Bryan and I had a history, but as I thought about him now, I couldn't recall a time in the past where he had made it a point to talk to me. I figured he was just bored like I was and didn't want to stuff his face all alone.

He sat down with a plate full of lettuce and other vegan supplies. I was a big meat eater and just looking at his diet made the image of a gerbil instantly pop into my mind. He suddenly looked up at me and frowned like he knew exactly what I was thinking. It was weird and I blinked and looked away.

"You look kind of tired. The bags under your eyes are bigger," Bryan pointed at his own two eyes and dragged his fingers down to demonstrate.

I had no clue what people were talking about when they mentioned the bags under my eyes. They looked fine to me.

"I guess I'm tired, I dunno," I shrugged.

"Something happen between you and A.J.?" Bryan asked.

I made a loud sigh and argued, "Have you been talking to Cena and Reks?"

"No," Bryan shook his head with confusion.

I was relieved and took the opportunity not to share the whole story as I explained, "I felt something on my neck last night and I thought it was a spider. I slapped it with my hand to kill it, but there was nothing there."

"Oh. Weird," Bryan shuddered as he added, "I hate spiders in my bed."

"Yeah, it was weird," I agreed.

Bryan looked at me with a straight face and asked, "You sure it wasn't a kiss?"

I was surprised he said aloud exactly what I initially thought. I hadn't told Cena and Reks about that part, so either Bryan was psychic or...

"How do you know about that?" I inquired.

I watched his expression for signs of deception. My mind raced with ideas, settling on the most likely one that he and April both planned to mess with me and the whole thing was a joke.

"It's not a joke," Bryan replied like he had just read what was on my mind.

I sat up straight. He added with a stern shake of his head, "April's not involved. I just wanted to get your attention. I didn't mean to get her scared."

He looked completely serious, but I wasn't about to let him get the best of me. I stood up from the table and told him before I turned to leave, "Don't mess around like that, Danielson. It's not funny."

I used his real last name to put it to him straight that I was serious. Sure, I could take a joke, but he was responding to my thoughts as if I were saying them out loud, and I wanted to get out of the Twilight Zone so I could work tonight.

I was already walking away when he called from behind me, "I'm not messing around."

"Well, stop it anyway, then," I told him over my shoulder.

I rounded the corner to reach the hallway and came to a screeching halt.

Bryan was standing right in front of me.

I glanced back over my shoulder. The picnic table he was sitting at was at least a hundred feet away. Bryan was fast, but he would've had to pass me like Speedy Gonzalez to get where he was now.

He smiled wryly like he found humor from the paranoia in my eyes. He said like it was no big deal, "I really like you, Phil. I tried to show it last night, but you were lying on your belly so I had to kiss your neck. Sorry for the confusion."

Bryan smiled again like that should've cleared things up. I told him as carefully as possible, "Whatever you're playing, I'm not game."

I slowly crept around him and took my eyes away only when I felt I was a safe distance from him. He just continued to smile as I made it to the end of the hall and double checked the next hall to make sure he wasn't there, yet. I glanced back at him and Bryan was still standing in the same place. He looked kinda creepy just standing there like he had not just read my thoughts and like it was no big deal that he came into my room like some stalker while I slept to express a homosexual desire of me by making out with the back of my neck and somehow disappearing from the room without being seen.

Unless he had never left the room.

_Freak._


	2. Two

Two:

The in-house show that night was uneventful. I took April back to the hotel afterward and I noticed she was particularly antsy, even after we had a big meal through room service and I had turned the TV on to watch her favorite show: Viva La Bam.

"What's the matter, Ape?" I called her by the same nickname Bam called his mother, who also happened to be named April.

"I dunno, I'm just tired I guess," she shrugged.

I opened my mouth to reply, but she rushed into the bathroom and shut the door before I could get another word out. I turned the TV on mute and listened intently to try and figure out what she was doing in there. I was a notorious eavesdropper, but I learned a lot about other people simply by watching and listening to the ritual things they did. I heard the shower running a minute later and decided that April needed some time to relax.

There could be a few explanations for her uneasiness. She could just be sore because of her in-house match and she doesn't want me to think she's being a wuss by taking some time to soak off the pain. She could be anxious about the eight hour drive we had to make tomorrow morning to get to the next arena by tomorrow night. No matter what reasonable explanation I came up with, though, none seemed about right.

I turned the volume back up on the TV and tried to focus on the show. It wasn't as fun watching it alone. I even closed my eyes and dozed off for twenty minutes, waking up with a start as I checked the radio alarm clock to see what time it was.

The clock read after midnight. I double checked with my watch to be sure. I glanced at the TV and I became confused when I noticed Bam was no longer on the screen.

I blinked a few times and glanced at the bathroom door. It was still closed and the light was on, but the shower wasn't running. April had probably stopped the water after she filled the tub, but as I calculated the time lapse in my mind, I realized that she had been in there over an hour.

"April?" I sat up in bed and called to her, thinking she probably just lost track of time.

She didn't answer. I stood up and walked quietly over to the door, pressing my ear against it so I could listen for her. I didn't hear any sound except for the soft dripping of water, probably from the tub faucet.

"Hey, April? You all right?" I knocked softly to stir her awake in case she had fallen asleep.

She still didn't make any sound that she was even there. I let out a long sigh as I deliberated walking in on her. If she got mad and thought I did it to peep on her, I could easily lose her respect and the rest of the Divas would forever mark me as non-travel-friendly company.

It surprised me that I cared so much. I didn't give a shit about what anyone said, so why get all deep-thought about a female wrestler I'm traveling with?

At the time, I didn't want to admit to myself yet that I liked her. I just shrugged off the potential consequences and opened the door. As soon as I walked in, I knew something was wrong.

"April? APRIL!" I rushed to the side of the tub.

She was unconscious under the water. The bathroom light made the water shimmer over her body. She looked almost like a sleeping mermaid.

I reached down to grab her shoulders. Just as I touched her body, her eyes sprang open and she started to scream under the water. Her face was twisted with fear like something was keeping her below the surface.

Her eyes. They weren't looking _at_ me. They were looking _past _me.

I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Daniel Bryan giving me a wicked big toothed smile.

"April?!" I woke up out of the vivid nightmare covered in sweat.

I glanced at the clock. It was the same time that I had seen in my dream. I glanced at my watch to make doubly sure. The same time.

I didn't bother to call out to her again or knock at the bathroom door, I just got up and dashed right through the bathroom door, breaking the knob and taking the top part right off of its hinges.

April screamed and stood up in the bathtub. Both our eyes were wide as saucers as we stared at each other in stunned silence for almost half a minute. I instinctively glanced down and the image of April's naked, water soaked body burned into my retinas.

"OHMYGODPUNK!" she quickly covered herself with her arms and blushed bright red.

"Sorry, I thought something happened to you, I had this dream, I..." suddenly everything that had just happened to me sounded completely and utterly irrelevant.

I took a deep breath to clear my mind and started over calmly, "I heard something and I thought you were in trouble. My mistake."

I turned to leave, but I stopped and looked back at her so I could say with all sincerity, "I'm sorry. Really. I don't want you to be mad at me."

Again, I started to leave. April stopped me when she blurted out, "Are you gonna tell?"

"Tell whom?" I replied curiously.

She swallowed hard and looked away as she remarked, "When you're in the locker room with the other guys. Are you gonna tell them what I look like naked?"

April's expression told me the other Divas had informed her that sharing a room with a guy meant this consequence was to be expected. I could tell she was embarrassed about letting it happen anyway and I told her honestly, "I'm not going to tell the other guys. They don't need to know shit."

Her eyes met mine and she gave me a short smile like she wasn't sure whether to believe me or not. I did my best to prop the door back up and closed it most of the way to give her privacy, telling her through the frame, "I really mean it. They don't need to know shit."

I heard her giggle softly and I was glad to put her mind at ease. I went back to bed and tried to push any remaining dream images out of my mind. It was all just a little too creepy and the whole dream kinda reminded me of a scene out of the movie Hook with Robin Williams, especially how April looked so much like a mermaid under the water.

She came out a few minutes later wearing a black tank top and sleep shorts. She climbed into bed and crawled over to me on all fours. Her expression wasn't seductive so much as it was sad, and I put my arm out so she could curl up next to me and get warm.

We watched TV in silence for a few minutes. I was about to close my eyes to fall asleep again when April told me quietly, "I must've fallen asleep in the bathtub. I remember lying down in the water and the next thing I know, you were barging in."

"I fell asleep for a while, too. I checked the clock and you had been in there over an hour," I remarked.

"What time did the clock say?" April asked curiously.

"I dunno, sometime after midnight," I answered passively.

She gave me a hard look and pointed at the clock beside us as she argued, "It's only 11:30, Phil."

"It is not-" I checked and saw that she was right.

I glanced at my watch to make doubly sure. It was completely surreal. The clock and my watch matched each other like they had in the dream and when I first woke up, but the times were completely off.

"I don't know what to say. I was sure it said after midnight," was all I could say.

April put her head down against my chest and replied, "Guess it doesn't matter, now."

* * *

"Playing with me...you're playing with me," I heard Curt Hawkins talking like he was telling a story to David Otunga as I walked past them.

The drive to the next arena felt a lot shorter once April and I got to talking about our favorite quotes from films. We liked a lot of the same movies and the spoof ones made us both laugh. When the subject moved on to wrestling history and favorite matches, we debated for hours about our all-time besties and the potential of current roster members to make history.

She was easy to talk to and I actually enjoyed hearing what April had to say. When we parted ways to head to our appropriate locker rooms, I felt kind of sad to see her go and I lingered in the hallway so I could watch her backside as she walked away. The eery mood from the night before had all but left me until I heard Hawkins say the exact words I would use to describe last night's dream.

I glanced back at them, but neither made eye contact and Otunga changed the subject by asking Hawkins, "Have you seen the stock market lately?"

I didn't wait to hear how Hawkins would respond. He wasn't exactly an idiot but I doubted he knew anything about the stock market beyond, "That movie with that super old dude in it who had crazy monkey sex with Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct...oh yeah! Michael Douglas!"

Those would be his exact words based on past conversations I'd had with him. One would think I'd fare better with an educated man like Otunga, but he likes to play pretend a lot and he reminds me of Captain Hook's sidekick Smee.

Huh. This was the second time someone had reminded me of a character out of a Peter Pan-based film. I jokingly tried to imagine who would play Peter Pan and laughed out loud when I knew Cena would be the perfect fit. I ultimately decided that Kelly Kelly would be Tinkerbell, Eve's personality outside of the ring and her strong friendship with Cena would make her just like Wendy and Rhodes would be little Michael, and Boogeyman would absolutely be the alligator after Hook's ship that made a tick-tocking sound when he was near.

"But Captain Hook? Who would play Hook?" I wondered aloud to myself.

"Move it!" I heard the voice before I caught the elbow in the face.

It hit me right in the left eye and I fell backwards against the far wall. I caught myself and ignored the pain as I blinked to focus on the clumsy bastard who nailed me.

His ugly back tattoo and lack of a neck gave him away.

"Excuse me! I didn't realize Mr. Lesnar was in the building! Allow me to grovel at his feet while he walks," I shouted sarcastically as I breezed past him into the locker room.

Anyone in the room heard me, but only a handful of them laughed. Most of the roster quietly resented Lesnar because of his status with the McMahons and his enviable connections with members of WWE management. Guys like Lesnar and The Rock make their presence known and boast about their privileged status, while guys like Cena have similar privileges but choose not to elbow the rest of us in the face for it.

Lesnar didn't even bother to acknowledge me. He just stormed right on by and went to a corner of the locker room inhabited by four poor low-card souls who were forced to take their ring gear and flee like refugees so Lesnar could have a lot of space to dress out.

_Asshole._

I was only thinking it, but I heard snickering from behind me and I turned around to find Bryan. I remembered our conversation the day before and how he kept replying to what I was thinking. Brock must've heard the laughter and saw me staring at Bryan, because he immediately called to me from his corner, "What's so funny?"

The locker room went quiet. The guys were all hoping a real fight was about to break out and everyone could get a piece of the action.

Bryan stopped laughing and looked me straight in the eyes. His expression warned me not to antagonize Lesnar. He was right to warn me. Lesnar's UFC training equated to guerrilla tactics when used against trained-on-a-schedule entertainment wrestlers and my chances of being put on the injured list were higher than my chances of winning without being reprimanded or fined.

_But I was born a rebel, and a rebel I shall be._

"I was just saying that you're a massive asshole!" I called back to Lesnar.

We locked eyes, and I waited for Lesnar to start barreling towards me.

He just busted out laughing.

I glanced around to make sure I wasn't dreaming again. Everyone else looked just as puzzled as I was. I felt a hand slap my shoulder and Bryan came around to face me. He was also laughing, and as soon as he stopped, Lesnar stopped.

What the hell?

"Don't make me do that again," he seethed quietly into my ear.

He turned on his heel and walked out before I could ask him what that was supposed to mean. If he thought I would be thanking him for saving me from a good old fashioned fight, he was so wrong. Besides, it didn't look like he really did anything and I was going to let him know it the next chance I got.

My chance would be soon. We were supposed to compete together tonight.


	3. Three

Three:

I couldn't get the image of April's body out of my mind.

I tried to focus on lacing my boots.

_Naked..._

I tried to do a hundred push-ups to clear my mind minutes before my match.

_Naked..._

I stared at the lines on the wall of the arena and tried to figure out all the elements that the wall was made of.

_Naked..._

"Aw, FUCK!" I shouted out loud when I couldn't take it anymore.

Some of the backstage crew heard me. They all turned their heads and stared at me like I was some sort of freak.

_They were the ones wearing headphones that looked like badly-shaped intergalactic helmets. _

"Phil? Oh, there you are!" I heard April call from the hallway.

I turned around to face her. She was already in her ring gear and ready to come out a few minutes after me to watch my match with Bryan. I had seen her in the cut-to-look-like-a-women's-tank version of my t-shirt before, but she looked so much cuter in it this time.

_Naked..._

"Phillip, is something wrong? Is there something on my shirt?!" April looked down to check when I had taken way too long to lift my eyes off of her chest.

"It's fine, it's great, uh...yeah..." I stuttered.

She gave me the most legitimate smile I'd seen in years. It was oddly comforting.

"You ready for some 'Yes' action?!" Bryan asked me as he came out of the hallway where April had just been.

April replied with a roll of her eyes, "That whole 'Yes' thing is ridiculous."

Bryan shrugged and mentioned, "Yeah, well, the fans love it."

He looked directly at me and asked, "You okay, buddy?"

It was like Bryan was deliberately trying to upset me by spooking April. She turned all her focus on me and asked with concern, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, really," I gave her my most sincere grin.

Bryan wasn't about to let things settle. He shook his head and put his hands on his hips as he argued loudly, "Maybe you're still reeling after Lesnar almost kicked your ass."

April gasped and shouted at me, "What were you doing messing with Lesnar?!"

Bryan's music cued and he casually walked past the curtain like he had nothing to do with what he just started.

"I wasn't messing with Lesnar. Danielson is just talking shit to get you all upset," I tried to tell April in a low tone so no one else overheard.

She was just starting to calm down when Kofi Kingston came out of the hallway and immediately asked me, "So what was that you did trying to get the Lesnar Bomb to go off?"

It was like I was living a sitcom. Seriously.

"Oh my God! What is going on, Phillip?!" April folded her arms and planted her feet like she wasn't going to move out of my way until I told her.

My music cued and I shook my head at her, but she refused to move. Kofi tried to make amends, saying quickly, "Look, I don't want to start trouble..."

"I have to go, A.J.," I tried once more to get past her.

She was only three-quarters my size, but she moved her tiny frame in front of me and once again refused to let me pass. I didn't want to shove her out of the way, but I was getting desperate, so I did the only other thing I could think of: I picked her up by her waist to move her aside.

"Hey! Phil!" She clutched my shoulders with surprise.

April's weight felt like next to nothing as I lifted her up. Her hazel eyes looked down on me in a moment where time seemed to freeze, and all I wanted to do was pull her closer.

"Punk! Get out there!" one of the backstage crew yelled, breaking the ice.

I quickly but carefully put April down nearby and rushed through the curtain. I slowed my steps as soon as the crowd could see me and no one was the wiser. I could see Bryan in the ring and I was glad to finally be able to put all my focus on him for a while.

He already had his arrogant goat-faced grin on when I leaped from the top rope into the ring. I noticed his canine teeth looked oddly longer than his other teeth and I pictured him as the perfect vampire extra in the next Twilight sequel.

Edward. Bella. And Daniel Bryan.

I laughed out loud despite myself. The fans were still cheering for me and the cameras were bouncing between shots so only Bryan noticed. He cocked his head to one side like he were trying to interpret the picture in my mind.

I suddenly remembered he had been reading my mind rather accurately lately and erased the image from my thoughts. He squinted and blinked his eyes a few times like he had been flashed by a bright light and was trying to re-adjust his vision, and I took the opportunity to come at him.

* * *

"Are you sure that was a good idea? Elbowing Bryan in the eye like that?" April asked me post-match on our way out to the parking lot.

She knew it wasn't kayfabe to do that. I had hit Bryan for real, but I did it because he kept anticipating my attempts at surprise moves by reading my mind and countering before I could even try them. I even grabbed him long enough to hiss into his ear that I was pissed about him claiming to help me with Lesnar only to freak April out about it, but he just kept on acting like I was no competition for him, so I elbowed him without thinking it over first.

The audience thought it was for show. Bryan's eye didn't bruise until after we got back to the locker room. He hadn't spoken a word to me since before the match and he took off before I could get more out of him. I was beginning to hate the fact that he was trying to act so superior to me. I couldn't remember a problem like this with him before and I wondered if he were jealous of April and I.

"He'll be fine. He's not a kid, April, he's a pro-wrestler," I said it more harshly than I meant it to be.

April looked away and replied quietly, "I know that. I just worry about his eyes after he told us about when he detached his retina in a competition once."

I had forgotten about that story until she mentioned it. I explained with a long sigh, "I didn't hit him that hard and he didn't even let the doctors check on it. He wouldn't have left early and driven off on his own if it were bothering him."

April nodded in agreement but said nothing more. When we got to the car, I opened the passenger's side door for her and I told her as she got in, "Sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's okay," she immediately perked up.

I walked around to get to the driver's side. Nothing seemed amiss until I reached for the handle and glanced in through the window.

I blinked with surprise when I saw Bryan already at the wheel.

"Bry-" was all I managed to say.

He started the engine and it drowned out my words. I knocked on the window but he ignored me. April leaned over to question me with her eyes. I shook my head that I had no idea why Bryan was in the car. I gave the window another hard knock to get his attention.

He turned to face me with a wicked grin. His irises were a dramatic shade of green that drowned out the other colors around him. His lips weren't moving, but I could hear his voice telling me calmly, "I'm going to get the best of you."

April reached for the handle to her door, but Bryan switched the gear and sped off before she could get out.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled, watching Bryan take off with both my car and my girl.

If he were reading my mind right now, he'd be able to see all the many ways I wanted to kill him.


	4. Four

Four:

I paced around the parking lot waiting for Bryan to come back. I was almost sure he wouldn't, but I was decent enough to give him the chance to redeem himself. After half an hour of waiting, all bets were off.

Bryan was sending me a message. That was clear. What wasn't clear to me was why drag April into it? Until now, she had been left blissfully unaware that anything was going on. She was probably negotiating with Bryan right now, asking him to please take her back to me so she could get Bryan and I to talk about our problems and express our feelings and solve our problems the chick way.

The whole thing was pissing me off. I whipped out my cell phone and tried to call Bryan. I didn't expect him to answer, but he did.

"Something wrong?" he chuckled.

There were other roster members coming out to the parking lot to leave, so I tried to keep my voice down as I seethed through the phone, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Taking April out for a good time. Don't worry, we're not going far," he teased, hanging up before I could reply.

I couldn't fucking believe it. I screamed internally as I tried to think of a counter-plan to top Bryan. He said they weren't going far, which is a fairly easy clue so he wants me to find them. Knowing Bryan, he would go somewhere where there was a crowd so I couldn't have the pleasure of decking him as soon as I saw him. He would also want to go somewhere I didn't want to be, just to stick it to me further.

A bar or a club.

Everyone knew I wasn't a drinker. I didn't mind hanging out and partying, but the guys hardly asked me because they didn't want to feel guilty for getting wasted in front of me. It was the only lead I had at this point, and I was glad to know that there was one roster member who loved to drink and he hadn't left yet.

I headed back into the arena to find Cena, but he was already coming down the hallway when I opened the door. He nodded at me and asked, "Why aren't you off, yet? You drove yourself here, right?"

"I let Bryan borrow my car," I lied, adding quickly, "You know any high-end clubs or historical pubs around here?"

Bryan wouldn't choose just anyplace. He would want it to be something significant so I didn't spend the whole night hitting every bar and club to find him. Cena gave me a curious look but answered without probing further, "There's a place called The Tiger Lily about twenty miles from here. I go there every time we come through. They're famous for attracting a lot of celebrity attention."

"Let's go," I stated.

* * *

John didn't ask questions and I was glad because I didn't want to have to make up some lame-ass excuse as to why I were in such a rush to get to some club. I realized after a few minutes of tense silence that my building fury was probably making Cena totally uncomfortable. I usually liked messing with him, but I was lucky enough to get a non-interrogative ride from him, so I should at least try not to be Captain Deep Brow while I'm at it.

"So what kind of celebrities come to Tiger Lily?" I asked to strike up conversation.

Cena blinked with surprise like he hadn't expected me to be on speaking terms. He recovered quickly and replied with a shrug, "I heard Lindsay Lohan threw her drink on someone there, but I kinda thought she did that in every club she went to."

I couldn't help laughing out loud. Cena added more seriously, "I saw Johnny Depp there once."

"He probably built the place," I mentioned, making Cena laugh this time.

Cena rounded the corner and pulled up to what looked like an abandoned building. He crossed the parking lot and went around the back. There were no signs and it didn't look like there were other people around. He parked by a cliché black bolted door and I waited for him to turn to me and tell me it was all a joke.

He got out of the car. I decided to follow him, wondering if maybe I were being Punk'd or something. Cena went up to the bolted door and knocked three times. Someone knocked back on the other side and he knocked back twice more.

The door opened to a long hallway glowing green with LED lights. Cena went in and I followed him down to the end of the hall, where another bolted door opened and a set of stairs, this time glowing blue, led us down to another bolted door.

I kinda wish Miz were here so he could say, "Really, Cena? Really?!"

The door opened and we were exposed to a room with actual people in it. The room was big enough to house a dance floor made of white tiles that glowed various colors and a balcony along the wall where people were sitting on eclectic furniture and drinking together. Cena went straight to the bartender for a drink, but I was busy scanning the place for signs that Bryan was there.

I would've called it a miracle if he managed to get into The Tiger Lily at all. Everyone I laid eyes on appeared to be extremely good looking and/or formerly featured on a pop-cultural magazine cover. They probably only let Cena in because he had been featured on enough Slurpee cups to be considered a moderately familiar face.

The music changed to a Lady Gaga remix and I noticed the dance floor's colors changed with it. The whole place lit up in red and yellow to appear like it was on fire and the people on the dance floor started moving closer together. The song slowed down to almost a hypnotic sound and the dancers got more provocative. The more I stared, the more it felt like I was watching a bunch of people having sex.

I couldn't take my eyes away from the center of the dance floor. There were two girls there and I couldn't see their faces, but one of them had dark hair that kept swaying back and forth while she danced. The song seemed to continue forever as the dancers became more and more entwined with each other. I just kept staring at the two girls in the center, making my way towards them without realizing it.

Bending, twisting; moving within the group, I managed to get to the center of the dance floor. They were grinding against each other and bending low like they might fall to the floor, only to lift each other up by grinding again. Just watching them made me completely aroused. One of the girls faded away and there was only the dark haired girl left. I could see her now.

"April," I whispered.

She immediately stopped dancing and looked up at me with frightened eyes. It were as if she was under a kind of trance that I had broken her away from. The song ended as well and the dancers around us stopped and turned to look at me like I wasn't supposed to be there.

I took April by the hand and led her off the dance floor. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys to my car. She handed them to me as I found a spot away from the other people to talk and asked, "Where is Bryan?"

"He left me here. He said I should just wait and maybe someone would show up," April was almost in tears at this point.

"I'll deal with him, later. Let's just get back to the hotel," I reassured her.

April nodded and we went to find Cena so I could let him know we were leaving. He was busy chatting it up with Ryan Reynolds so I held my keys up to show him I was good and Cena gave me a quick nod he understood. I led April back out to the parking lot, but there weren't any cars and even Cena's was gone from where he parked it when we came in.

"They put the cars in a garage over there," April pointed across the street.

We walked into the garage and I used the button on my keys to find my car. I asked April before we got too close to it, "He didn't do anything to rig the car, did he?"

"Not that I know of," she shook her head.

I made sure Bryan wasn't in the driver's seat this time before I let April in. The ride back to the hotel went seamlessly, but I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until we were checked in and the door to our room was shut and locked.

April crawled into the center of the bed and curled up facing away from me. I asked her quietly, "Are you all right?"

She didn't answer me. I climbed in behind her and placed my hand on her side to make sure she was still breathing. She rolled over to face me and I saw this look in her eyes she had never shown me before.

She pulled me into her and pressed her lips against mine. It was soft and slow and it felt rich like being buried in sand on a sun-filled beach. She kept kissing me and kissing me until I had forgotten everyone else in the world and all I saw was April.

We tugged at each other's clothes until they were gone and nothing was left but skin. I had already seen her naked and she had seen most of me in the ring dozens of times. It wasn't so much about discovering as it was _exploring_. We didn't go through that awkward stage where couples touch each other for the first time and try to figure out what's okay and what's not. It's like we already knew exactly what we were doing and how to touch each other. _A harmony_.

I could feel April shaking with anticipation from underneath me. I plunged deep inside of her and picked up an easy rhythm. We were so used to each other already that there was no reason to make it loud and fussy. We just stared into each other's eyes while I pumped into her long and slow and she moaned for me to keep going.

"Please, Punk, don't stop," I liked that she used my stage name to plead.

I built up a little more speed, and April responded with more pleading to continue. Our bodies developed a light shade of sweat as we both edged towards climax. I could easily say without a doubt this was the best sex I'd ever had, and yet I couldn't shake the gut feeling that this would be the last time April and I would hook up.

"I don't wanna lose you," I said to her out loud.

April closed her eyes and I felt her whole body shudder with release. The spasms from her inside walls spurred me to cum and I realized too late that I hadn't put on a condom.

"Shit, I'm sorry, A.J.," I expected her to be really angry with me.

"It's okay, I'm on the pill," she replied with a calm smile.

I started laughing and she smacked my ass with her foot to make me stop. That only made me laugh harder and she tried to shove me off as she mocked anger and argued, "You're such a pig! Get off, Phil!"

"I like it better when you call me Punk," I told her seriously.

She waited patiently for me to lean down and kiss her, again. She didn't have to wait long.


	5. Five

Five:

As soon as I opened my eyes the next morning, I knew something was wrong.

I sat up and immediately noticed April was sitting on the edge of the bed holding her stomach and her face was drained of color. I asked her quietly, "What's wrong?"

She glanced at me with tired eyes and replied softly, "I don't feel very good this morning. The window was left open and I think I got too cold."

I couldn't remember opening the window, so I argued as I glanced at it, "The window wasn't-"

Sure enough, it was wide open like it had been deliberately left that way. I sighed with frustration and told April, "I'm sorry. I don't know how we could've missed that."

"We were a little busy," she smiled warmly at me.

My face burned hot just from the thought of being inside her. She looked like she wanted to laugh but her stomach got the best of her and April rushed to the bathroom to throw up.

I came in behind her and pulled her hair back until she finished. April sat down on the bathroom floor and looked up at me with the most exhausted eyes I'd ever seen. I gave her a quick smile and said, "I'll drive. You rest."

* * *

April fell asleep in the car before we even got out of the parking lot. I felt rested enough but tried to keep track of the cars passing us as a kind of game to stay awake. After four straight hours of silence, though, every car started to look the same.

I jumped when I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. I was driving down a basically empty road so I decided to answer it. The ID popped up as Cena and I mocked aggravation as I told him, "What the hell are you calling me for? You know I hate talking on my cell while driving! It's distracting!"

I really did hate to talk on my phone while driving and Cena knew that, but he didn't even bother to play along. He just told me simply, "Look, I know something's up and I'd like to help."

"This is not your fight, Cena," I reminded him.

"Doesn't matter. A lady is involved, and that's something I take very seriously," he stated.

I wasn't sure whether I should drag him into it or not. I'd have to explain that Bryan was acting like some kind of a hybrid freak from a B-horror film and April had gone from dancing like a sex goddess to puking in a hotel toilet. Cena knew I didn't make shit up, but even if he chose to believe me, I had little faith there was much he could do to help.

"Look, just um...keep an extra eye on April as much as you can, all right? You don't have to stalk her or anything, just make sure she's not alone," I explained.

"What about Bryan? Does he have something to do with this?" he asked suddenly.

I was so surprised, it took me a few seconds to respond, "Why would you think that?"

John countered with a scoff, "I saw Bryan at the club last night. You left with April so fast I thought you were dumping him on me, but he took off a few minutes later looking like he was seeing red and he didn't bother to ask for a ride."

"He left a few minutes later? Where the fuck did he go?" I blurted.

"I already knew he was involved but thanks for confirming," Cena replied shortly.

I could see that the road was heading into traffic up ahead, so I had to cut the conversation off. I told Cena, "Look, I gotta concentrate. I'll deal with Bryan on my own. Just watch over April, that's all I ask, Sir Lancelot."

He chuckled before pointing out with a smile in his voice, "Didn't Sir Lancelot get the babe in the end?"

"If you take my Guinevere, I'll kick your ass," I informed him.

He was still laughing when I hung up the phone and shoved it back into my pocket. I glanced over at April to make sure she was still okay. Her face looked almost gray and she appeared to be worse than before. She was still holding her stomach and I waited until I pulled up to the next stoplight to pull her arms away so I could lift up her shirt and make sure she didn't have a spider bite on her abdomen or something.

_What I saw was much, much worse._

She wasn't sick. She was experiencing symptoms of pregnancy.

I knew this because I had seen my mom go through the same thing. April's abdomen was swollen to the size my mom was when she carried my little sister at about five months.

I had to be the father. At this point, I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what I helped create.


	6. Six

Six:

I brought April to the nearest hotel and checked in. We were still about an hour from the arena, but I didn't think it was safe to take her any further. She had slept most of the way, but her belly continued to swell and I began to fear the worst.

If she were pregnant, it would defy any kind of logic and I had no idea what she would be giving birth to. I wanted to explain it away as some kind of a medical problem, but I had no clue what to call it and my instincts told me taking her to the hospital would only cause more trouble.

There was only one person I could call who would be nearby and who wouldn't ask questions.

"Can you get here fast, Cena? I'll owe you big time," I told him.

"Be right there," he said, and I hung up and waited.

He pulled up just a few minutes later. I had expected him to already be at the arena and I was curious as to what had stalled him besides me. I opened the door before he could knock and motioned to April. She was still asleep after I had carried her into the room and set her down on the bed. It didn't take Cena but a few seconds to notice something was very wrong.

His cotton candy blue eyes looked at me like he wanted to ask a thousand questions, but he didn't mention a single one of them. He turned around and went back outside to his car, then he came back moments later with his gym bag.

"What are you doing?" I asked curiously as he placed the bag on the floor next to A.J.

"She might have complications. I saw it happen to a lady giving birth in her van when I was a teenager. A lot of shit can go wrong," his voice broke just before he finished.

I hadn't considered that. I was still in denial that this was really happening. John probably didn't want to know, but I told him anyway, "I think I did this to her. We had sex for the first time last night and she woke up puking and I thought she was just sick, but then I saw her abdomen and Goddammit, John, I felt something move."

My eyes burned with tears I wanted so badly to repress. Cena cleared his throat and replied, "I know you want to blame someone, even if it's yourself, but you couldn't have possibly done this to her. Unless you were thrown in a vat of toxic waste as a kid and your only super power is fast-growing sperm, you couldn't have made this happen."

I snorted laughter and felt instantly guilty that I had lightened up. John came over and pulled me into a strong hug as he whispered into my ear, "Don't lose it now, Phil. She needs you."

He let me go and I took in a deep breath to catch my second wind. I went over to April and put all my attention on her as I asked John over my shoulder, "What should I do?"

"She looks like she's at full-term. See how the baby has dropped down a little?" John said.

It actually did look like April's abdomen had moved down. John pulled a couple of towels out of his gym bag and went to the bathroom. He brought them back wet and rolled them up, putting one underneath April's neck and the other under her knees. His eyes were somber as he focused on me again and said thickly, "You should probably take off her shorts."

He turned to look away, but I argued with him, "Look, I know you wanna be the gentlemen and all, but if this thing comes out, you'll be seeing it no matter what."

John still didn't turn around, mentioning over his shoulder, "You should ask April if it's okay, first."

I hated to wake her, but if I didn't, the contractions would. I took her by the shoulders and shook them gently, asking when she opened her eyes, "April, I need you to stay calm."

She blinked a few times and gave me a sweet smile, then she looked down.

April let out this blood curdling scream. John whirled around and I managed to grab April's arms and hold them down before she hurt herself. She started breathing so loud and fast, I had to yell to communicate with her, "Calm down, A.J.! Everything is going to be all right!"

She screamed again, but this time, it was one of intense pain.

"Baby's coming," John went around to my other side and got down on his knees.

April's eyes stared into mine like she were in a state of both shock and horror. I yelled at John, "You've got to get her shorts off! I can't let go of her arms or she might hurt herself!"

Her gaze broke from mine as April suddenly realized John was in the room. He got up so she could see him and he told her softly, "I'm sorry, beautiful, but I have to do this."

John started to open her shorts just as I heard a kind of squishing sound and the shorts were suddenly soaked. I remembered the same thing happening to my mom when her water broke and I looked at John to make sure it was still okay. He nodded and carefully pulled April's shorts down along with her underwear, getting them both past her feet just seconds before she began kicking the bed and screaming in pain.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" I looked at John for answers.

"I don't know, I've never seen it happen like this," John shook his head.

April suddenly stopped screaming and I felt the strength leave her arms. She relaxed completely and looked up at me with a dazed expression. I asked her quietly, "Can you hear me, A.J.? Are you all right?"

She closed her eyes and let out a low moan like it was the only kind of scream she had left in her. John lifted her knees and parted them as he said to me, "I see the head."

I decided it was fine to let go of April's arms and leaned over to help John. We could both see the baby slowly making its way out, but April wasn't pushing it. John held the baby by the back of its neck and put his other hand under its backside to support it until the baby's tiny toes could be seen. By all appearances, it was a healthy and human baby boy with a full head of black hair that bore a striking resemblance to my own newborn pictures.

"Get the scissors out of my bag. We need to cut the cord," John whispered to me.

I came back to reality and looked up at April. Her eyes were still closed, but she was still breathing and appeared to be very calm. I found the scissors in John's bag and used them to cut the umbilical cord, then John took the baby to the bathroom to clean him up and wrap him in a white towel.

"April? April?" I took her hand and squeezed it to wake her.

Her eyes fluttered open and she asked me softly, "Is the baby okay?"

"I think so. We're going to get you both to a hospital," I told her.

April nodded and replied, "I'm so tired."

"Just rest now. Everything's fine," I reassured her.

She closed her eyes and went back to sleep. John came back out with the baby wrapped up and resting peacefully in his arms. I mentioned for lack of anything better to say, "Jeebus, he didn't even cry."

"He's a quiet baby, unlike his father," John smiled as he came to sit down next to me.

We could hear the baby cooing softly to himself as we waited a few minutes in the calm. John turned to me and broke the silence when he asked, "Could you at least tell me what may have led up to this?"

"I'm afraid to tell you because it means you'll be involved," I said.

John frowned at me and stated, "Tell me anyway. If it means I'll be pregnant in the morning, then so be it!"

I chuckled but warned him seriously, "I mean it, John. This is something that goes way over our heads."

"I might understand more than you think," he replied.


	7. Seven

Seven:

_It was all a dream._

I kept trying to convince myself as the paramedics left the room with sharp looks in their eyes. John told them how sorry he was a few more times, then he closed the door and turned to face me.

"I know you're not the type to make up stories, and so I believe what you told me about Bryan, but this doesn't make any sense," he shook his head.

We had called the hospital and they sent paramedics to get someone for A.J. When I explained that she had gone from a lot of pain and fury to little movement at all, they became very alarmed and told us not to touch her until she could get help. The paramedics only took a few minutes to arrive, and I took the time to explain to John about Bryan's increasingly odd behavior.

"So does he like, want your ass?" Cena sounded like he were asking it as a serious question.

I shook my head and argued, "I thought so at first, but when I took April and left the club, Bryan didn't even come after us and he knew things would get heated."

The baby had fallen asleep in John's arms and April hadn't made more than the sound of her own breathing while we waited. With a long sigh, John asked to confirm, "And you really think Bryan is some kind of real life Peter Pan?"

I replied with a shrug, "To be honest, he's not quite the caliber of Peter Pan, but one of the lost boys? I'd say hell, yes."

John seemed lost in thought so I asked him, "Do you get it? I mean _really_ get it?"

He remarked with a sense of uncertainty, "I'm just trying to understand it all. I mean, if someone is being bizarre, the story usually is they're psychotic or a vampire or a werewolf or a ghost or something. Nobody ever pops up and says, 'Hey, that guy reminds me of a kid from Neverland!'"

"I know, I know, but I can't ignore the references to the stories. Like I told you, all the symbols point to Peter Pan's world," I pointed out.

John glanced down at the baby and asked, "You think this little lost boy is part of some bigger plan? I mean, do you think Bryan had something to do with a 24-hour pregnancy?"

"I'm sure he's involved," I stated, adding more softly, "But I have no idea why he would want this to happen. I thought he was just after me, not A.J."

We both turned to look at her and make sure she was still breathing. John turned back to face me and opened his mouth to say something, but there was a knock at the door and the paramedics arrived.

It only took them a few seconds to become agitated. They claimed there was nothing wrong with April and she showed no signs of giving birth. I pointed out the baby in John's arms and the soaked pair of shorts on the floor, but they still didn't believe us. The paramedics threatened to have us arrested for pulling such an elaborate and albeit sickening prank, but John laid on the heavy charm and used his powers of persuasion to get us off the hook in exchange for autographs and tickets to the next RAW.

"How the fuck should I know what makes sense anymore?" I yelled at Cena.

He just gave me his usual steely gaze and I put my hands up in defeat. I went over to April and shook her awake, using more force than I meant to. She opened her eyes and her expression only showed minor annoyance as she asked, "What's the matter?"

"Are you all right? Don't you remember anything?" I asked frantically.

"No," April glanced down and added, "Did you take off my shorts?"

She glanced over at John and his face turned bright red. April quickly covered herself with the blanket on the bed and asked, "Are you holding a _baby_, John?"

"Yeah, it's uh...he's my cousin's son from a...previous marriage..." Cena looked at me for help.

It were obvious April had no clue what had happened. There was no mess besides a wet pair of shorts, her body had somehow completely recovered just as fast as the pregnancy had started, and to top things off, John and I were standing there like a couple of idiots holding a random baby and staring at a half-naked chick in a shady hotel room an hour away from where we were scheduled to be.

I looked at April and told her the most blatant-faced lie I could imagine, "We woke up this morning and you were very sick. I asked John to catch up with us and he said he was already at this hotel chatting up with his cousin before heading to the next arena. We got here and John's cousin was getting ready to leave but you were so sick that he let us use the room for the last hours until checkout time. John's cousin left to get you something for the stomach ache you said you had but after he left, you threw up on your shorts and we had to rinse them off. By the time they were done rinsing, you had passed out on the bed. John and I were just waiting around until the cousin came back."

The story came out surprisingly easily, like I had been able to rehearse it beforehand. April glanced quickly at John before leaning into me and whispering, "Well, you could've tried to cover me up instead of putting me on display for John and his cousin to see."

"Sorry, that was my bad," I acted completely ashamed.

"I'm sorry too, darlin'. I won't say a damn word about it again," John reassured her.

April smiled warmly at him and asked, "So what's the baby's name?"

John's eyes went wide and he glanced at me. I blurted the first name that came to mind, "His name is Peter!"

"Aw, that's so sweet, I love that name! Could I hold him?" April reached out.

John wandered over to us and carefully placed Peter in April's arms. He was still asleep as she tenderly stroked his face and watched him like he was some sort of angel. I couldn't help feeling a sense of adoration for the two of them, and a part of me wanted to tell April the truth, but I knew that there was a reason why her memory had been wiped clean, and I figured trying to get her to understand what had happened may have far worse consequences than letting it be.

"He looks kind of like _you_, Punk," April giggled.

I swallowed hard and replied simply, "Yeah, I guess so. All that black hair on his head."

April shook her head and told me, "No, I mean he really kind of looks like you. His nose looks a little bit like mine. Maybe this is what our kids would look like if we ever had any."

I was struggling to keep my composure, and John saw it. He carefully took the baby back from April and said mainly to me, "I think I'll go outside and see if my cousin's back."

April waited until after John was gone to ask me, "Is something wrong?"

It took all I had to reply with a straight face, "Everything is fine."

* * *

"What do we do about the baby?" I asked John at the arena.

He had gone down the street while I talked to April and bought a car seat for Peter. We made it seem like John's cousin had taken the baby and left in a hurry so April didn't get to meet him. I took April to the next arena while John took Peter with him. I made sure April was settled before going back out to the parking lot to meet up with Cena.

"That depends. I could make a few calls and set him up for adoption...if that's what you really want."

John could see the doubt on my face. I shook my head and said, "I don't want to give him up. Regardless of the circumstances, he is my son."

He nodded that he understood and replied softly, "I know some good hands who could take care of him for a while, just until you can figure out a better plan."

"Thank you, John. I really appreciate this," I told him honestly.

"It's the least I could do for my in-ring opponent slash New Baby Daddy," John grinned.

I laughed out loud and he added, "Tell McMahon I had some things to do, but I'll be back before my match."

"Got it," I replied.

I stood back so John could leave and caught one last glimpse of Peter in the car seat through the back window. His eyes were open and they looked just as big and innocent as A.J.'s.

"God, that kid is beautiful," I blew him a kiss and waved them off.

I waited until John was no longer in sight before I went back into the arena to find A.J. I hadn't made it very far when I suddenly felt a pair of hands shove me from behind and I stumbled into an adjacent room. It was pitch black but the lights switched on quickly and I whirled around to face Daniel Bryan.

His teeth were pointed like fangs. Not like a vampire's fangs but...something more wicked.

His eyes were a bright shade of neon green and he looked more like how I would describe a gremlin in human form. He leaped into the air and kicked me in the solar plexus. I hit the ground so hard, I felt the wind escape my lungs and I struggled to breathe.

Bryan's features returned to normal as he casually came down to sit on my chest. I tried to grab his legs and shove him off, but it felt like he weighed a few hundred pounds. I stopped straining myself and choked out, "What do you...want?"

"Where's Peter?" Bryan seethed.

I couldn't answer him because of the intensity against my chest, so he let up just enough for me to grab a quick gasp of air so I could argued, "He's my son! You can't have him!"

"What? You mean the baby? I don't want him," Bryan stated like it should've been obvious.

I stared at him like he was some sort of an illusion. He added with a short chuckle, "The baby was a gift from a very special fairy."

"Tinker-" I started to say.

Bryan slammed his weight back down on my chest to cut me off and put his finger against his lips for silence. He removed his finger and whispered to me, "We don't say her name, here. Peter doesn't like that."

He let up once more so that I could manage to ask, "I don't understand. If you don't want my son whom I named Peter, then who is the Peter you're looking for? The _real_ Peter?"

Bryan rolled his eyes like again the situation should be totally obvious. He opened his mouth to answer me when we were both startled by a loud BANG in the hallway.

"Shit! Hook is here!" Bryan leaped off of me and shot out of the room faster than I could blink.

"What the fuck?" I sat up and tried to gather myself.

There was a soft knock at the door. All the guys in the locker room knocked really loudly...save for one.

"Is that you, Randy?" I called out.

"Yeah. Everything all right? I thought I heard someone choking down here," Randy replied.

He opened the door slightly and peeked inside. When he saw me on the floor, he didn't come rushing over, but gave me a curious glance along with a sarcastic, "Whatcha doin' down there?"

"I wanted to know what the cement floor smelled like," I answered dryly.

Randy laughed out loud and waited for me to come out to the hallway. He looked from side-to-side and asked, "Did you hear anyone else down here? I was sure I heard choking."

"I was coughing a second ago. Maybe it was just me," I lied.

"Yeah, maybe," Randy shrugged, turning to leave.

I followed him, glancing over my shoulder once more to make sure Bryan wasn't around. By all accounts, he had completely vanished.

"You remember the movie Peter Pan?" I asked Randy to analyze his reaction.

He turned his head to one side like he had to think about it a while before answering, "I guess so. I watched it with Alanna one afternoon. It's got the tick-tock crocodile, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, exactly," I was disappointed by his lame response.

"I think I like the Robin Williams one called Hook better. Watched it when I was still young enough to care about that shit. I always thought Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook was epic," he laughed.

"You like Captain Hook?" I felt my instincts spike.

"Sure. He's probably my favorite," Randy replied.

"Why's that?" I asked eagerly.

Randy stopped and turned to face me. His expression was almost playful as he shot me a wry smile and stated, "'Cause he's a total dick and everyone's afraid of him."

He made it sound like they were traits to aspire to. I snorted laughter and argued, "Hook was afraid of the crocodile, though."

Randy shook his head and replied, "It wasn't the crocodile that really scared Hook. It was always Peter that he was truly afraid of."

"Where'd you come to that conclusion?" I asked curiously.

Randy told me simply, "Hook wanted to be a lost boy, too, but he's grown up and he's responsible for all his men. He's jealous of Peter. That's why he tries so hard to get Peter's attention."

I mentioned idly, "I thought you said you didn't remember Peter Pan all that much."

With a short shrug, Randy moved on to the locker room as he replied over his shoulder, "I don't remember Peter Pan, but I used to watch Hook all the time."


	8. Eight

Eight:

"April? Can I talk to you?" I asked through the locker room door.

It was just after my match and there weren't many people around. Everyone was either conversing backstage or they'd already packed their bags to leave. I had debated all evening about telling April the truth about our baby, and I'd come to the conclusion while getting slammed down on the mat by Kane that I didn't want to raise Peter without his mother.

"Come in," she said softly, and I made my way inside.

The locker room was empty save for A.J. She was sitting on a bench by her respective locker, unlacing her boots with perfect speed and accuracy. She had probably laced and unlaced her ring shoes a thousand times, so it was easy for her to look up at me while she worked.

"What's up?" she asked, her sunrise smile blinding my vision.

I suddenly felt like an ass for trying to tell her a massive revelation in the middle of some random locker room. I considered leaving, but I knew if I walked out now, I would never tell her the truth.

"Do you remember the baby John had in his arms? The boy that you said looked like me?" I asked carefully.

April shot me a sideways glance like she wondered if I were trying to mess with her for asking a rather obvious question. She answered easily, "Of course I do."

"Well, what if...what if the baby was mine?" I asked, bracing for a negative reaction.

She stared at me for a moment while she processed the information. She blinked a few times and waited for me to laugh or explain why I was asking, but I didn't reveal anything just yet. April stood up and stepped out of her ring shoes, slowly making her way over to me and stopping just inches away before she asked quietly, "Are you telling me you have someone else?"

I could see from her expression that she thought I was trying to dump her to be with my Baby Momma. I shook my head and told her, "That's not what this is about. There is no one else. You're the mother of the baby."

Her eyes were frozen in a blank stare. She started to shake her head that she didn't understand, but I went on, "Something happened. I can't explain it, but Bryan made something happen, and the other night when we had sex for the first time...I don't know how, but...you were pregnant the next morning, and John and I watched you have that baby, then somehow, someway, your body just returned to normal and I have no way of explaining it to you other than to tell you the truth exactly the way I saw it."

The whole thing sounded ridiculously stupid. It was like the plot of yet another really bad Syfy original movie, only this one wasn't so bad it was good. As soon as I finished, I felt regret creep up inside of me, and I wanted to take my words back.

"Stop," whispered A.J.

"Stop what? I'm telling you the truth," I argued.

April shook her head and told me softly, "Stop it. I don't want to talk about this."

I couldn't help assuming from her response that some part of her did remember what had happened, but her reaction made me think that she had chalked it up as only a fleeting dream.

"April, I-"

"Don't. Don't talk anymore," she took my head in her hands and pressed her lips to mine.

She was warm, and soft. She hadn't showered yet since her match, so her lips tasted like salt from sweat. I was still a mess from my match, but April didn't seem to mind. She clutched my trunks and pulled me into an adjacent room. I closed the door behind us and picked her up so she could straddle me while I held her against the wall.

Past relationships were never so easy. I tried to hide the fact that I was usually a total clutz, but it was noticeable when I fumbled with a girl's top or I managed to snap her in the eye with her own bra strap. When I was with A.J., though, I didn't feel like such an idiot. In fact, I didn't mess up at all with her. She was so small, I could hold her up and slip off her bottoms effortlessly. One thing I did notice was that she got me hard really fast. I was never easily stimulated and a potential turn-on were few and far between.

I was almost ready when April started to cry. Her tears were so silent, I had to observe her for a moment before I realized what was happening. I pressed up against her and asked, "What's the matter? What's wrong?"

"I just don't want anything weird to happen this time," she said weakly.

"It won't happen again. I won't let anything weird happen to you again," I reassured her.

She nodded and started kissing me, again. I slipped inside of her and I couldn't remember the last time something felt so good. She held onto me until I built up a rhythm, then she pressed her lips to my ear and whispered, "We have to stay quiet in case someone comes in."

"I can do quiet," I said, keeping my rhythm steady.

I had no trouble halting any groans of pleasure, but April struggled to keep her feelings inside as her sense of ecstasy continued to build. She grabbed my hand and put it over her mouth to stifle any noise, but it wasn't doing much good.

"Do you want me to stop?" I asked quietly.

She tossed my hand away and said, "No, keep going."

I turned my head to listen, but it didn't sound like anyone was nearby. I was already getting close to release, and April sounded like she was equally ready to climax.

I kissed her one more time and closed my eyes so I could remember what she felt like inside before I came. The moment was almost over when I heard April shout, "Oh my God!"

She sounded like she was panicked about something, but I opened my eyes and watched her tense and release from orgasm and I assumed the intensity was what made her cry out. I was able to reach my own release just from watching her enjoy herself, then I looked down and chuckled when I saw my ring trunks wrapped around my knee pads.

"Maybe I should've taken my gear off, first," I joked as I looked up at her.

April's expression was serious. I asked her quietly, "What's wrong?"

"I saw someone watching us," she pointed at the door with her chin.

I turned to look and realized the door had been left slightly open, just enough for someone to peek in on us without being noticed. I looked back at April and told her, "I swear I closed the door."

"I know," she replied morosely.

"Did you get a good look at who it was?" I asked, thinking it may have been one of the Divas and it was nothing to worry about.

April seemed hesitant to tell me. I asked her again, "Who was it?"

She swallowed hard before confessing, "I'm not sure, but I think it was...Glenn."

_What the hell is Kane doing snooping around in the girl's locker room?_


	9. Nine

9:

I waited until April was settled in our hotel room before I went looking for Kane. By the time I had set out to find him I was furious, spurred by the idea that he had been sent by Daniel Bryan to spy on April and I making love in the girl's locker room.

It couldn't be coincidence. There was no reason for Kane to be in there unless he was asked to find us. I hadn't seen Bryan in hours and I figured he was purposefully avoiding me because he knew I'd beat his ass if I saw him.

No more Peter Pan references. No more jokes and jagged teeth and reading minds. I was going to get to the bottom of this and nothing would stop me this time.

It was late and the hotel was basically dead to the world. The hotels we checked into always had a workout area and Kane liked to use them around midnight because no one else would be around. I was on my way to find him when I rounded the corner and almost ran into John Cena.

"Where the hell have you been?!" I blurted angrily.

He frowned at me because he couldn't understand my high level of aggression. Being the eternal optimist that he was, John just smiled again and reminded me, "I was taking your son to a couple who can take care of him. He's fine, by the way."

I suddenly felt guilty for taking my rage out on the wrong guy. I shook my head and replied, "Sorry, my mind is somewhere else. Thank you for helping me."

He grinned and I stepped around him to get back to my mission. John called to me as I took off, "Going somewhere?"

"When you gotta go, you gotta go!" I told him over my shoulder, assuming he'd move on and forget about me.

I rounded the next corner and caught sight of Kane in the gym. He was out of his ring gear and looked more like his regular Glenn self. I stormed in without taking a proper look around and screamed at him, "What the fuck are you doing spying on April and I while we're having sex?!"

Kane blinked with surprise and glanced past me. I heard an odd cough and whirled around to find Randy Orton lying on a bench press in the far corner with none other than Daniel Bryan as his spotter. Randy had earbuds in, but it was apparent he had still heard me when he sat up and took the buds out so he could listen to us. I was surprised when I looked at Bryan and saw his expression was a mix of anger and confusion, like he had no idea what was going on and he was appalled at what I had just said.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't spying on you," Kane denied his involvement.

I was too angry to bother with formalities and decided to continue the argument while Orton and Bryan watched. I saw Cena walk in just as I turned back to face Kane and countered harshly, "April said she saw you! She was completely freaked out that you were watching her get off!"

"What the hell?" Bryan shouted from where he was across the room, but I didn't bother to look back at him.

Kane continued to keep a level head, telling me calmly, "I didn't mean to freak April out, and if I did, I'm sorry, but I wasn't spying on you two."

"Really? So it were just happenstance that you waltzed into the Diva's locker room, heard us going at it and decided to hang out a while because that's not creepy at all!" I stated sarcastically.

Randy busted out laughing. Cena came up beside me just as Kane stood up and argued with narrowed eyes, "Are you trying to get me fired, Punk?"

"No," I seriously hadn't considered that, "But I want you to admit what you did!"

Bryan had come closer and was standing behind Kane watching him with the same aggression I was feeling. I thought Bryan was in on it before, but now I thought he was ready to back me up in a fight with Kane.

"Look, you've got this all wrong," Kane shook his head.

"What is happening here, Glenn? Tell us your side of the story," John said.

I was never able to stay as level-headed as Lancelot-Cena. I glared at him but he ignored me and I looked back at Kane to await his answer. He made a long sigh before he finally confessed, "I went to the Diva's locker room to see Beth Phoenix."

I was startled by this fact because Beth was my ex-girlfriend. We had dated on-and-off for over a year and officially called it quits a few months ago. We had stayed friends and she was talking about going on a blind date with someone she'd known a long while, but I had no clue it was someone from the roster.

Kane could see the confusion on my face, so he added quickly, "We went on a date a couple of weeks ago and we had to end it early so Beth could get some sleep before the next day's flight. She said we'd take a rain check and last night I got a text from her to meet her in the locker room. I didn't see anyone when I got there, but I heard some woman moaning in a back room and I thought she was hurt and afraid to tell anyone about it. I realized too late that I was wrong and April saw me just before I turned to leave."

There was a long pause of awkward silence between all of us before Randy made a loud snore and called out, "That was the most boring sex story ever!"

"Orton, shut the fuck up," Cena retorted, to which Randy rolled his eyes.

Bryan came around to face Kane and his expression was still dark as he stated, "You should apologize to April and clear up any confusion you've caused."

"I can do that. Where is she?" Kane looked at me somberly.

"Yeah, well, she's probably asleep by now, so I'll just tell her what you've said and you can apologize to her in the morning," I just wanted to get away from the situation by that point.

"No! He should apologize!" Bryan argued with me.

"Let him do it in the morning, Danielson!" I called him by his real last name to get him to understand I was serious.

Bryan was fuming. He glared at me and then at Kane, but when he looked at Cena, something changed in Bryan and his fury seemed to instantly smooth over. Within a moment's notice, Bryan was fine again and said with a quick nod, "Morning it is."

He took off past us and sailed out the door without another word. I looked back at Kane and told him honestly, "I'm sorry, man. I really thought you were a total perv."

"I get that a lot," Kane joked," I think it's because of the mask."

Randy busted out laughing again. I was getting tired of his uncanny ability to turn any serious moments into scenes straight out of a prime-time comedy, so I turned to leave. Cena followed after me and I could hear Randy calling to him, "Hey, John! John! Come back here! Hey!"

Cena ignored him and stayed with me until we were clear of the gym. I waited until we were in the privacy of a quiet hallway before I turned back to face him and asked, "What did you just do to Bryan?"

"What?" he replied with confusion.

The constant deflections of my intentions were weighing heavily on my nerves. I stated as clearly as possible, "Danielson was ready to claw Kane's eyes out and maybe mine, but he takes one look at you and suddenly his boiling point goes down like a pan off the stove! Either he's only acting so he can do something majorly stupid later, or you did something to make him stop!"

I stared intently at Cena. He looked right back at me with those blue lagoon eyes like I had completely lost my marbles and he was just waiting for an opportunity to walk away.

Then, without notice, he grabbed me by the chin and kissed me.

It was startling and it took the breath right out of me. I blinked with surprise and made a slight scream at the back of my throat, but John continued to hold onto me, so I tried to jerk away from him and ended up twisting my jaw in the process.

He let go immediately and said, "I'm sorry, I should've given you more warning."

The pain in my jaw was intense. I knew John had some amazing upper body strength, but he had managed to cause me to overextend the tendons in my jaw joints simply by holding onto my chin while I tried to turn away.

"Jeebus, Cena! What the fuck?!" I held my jaw and groaned.

"I'm sorry, I really am, Punk. I'll tell you the truth if you promise you won't go after Bryan," John said.

His expression was one of legitimate concern, but I was mad at him at this point, so I couldn't help arguing, "I want to find out the truth, and if it means going after Bryan, that's what I'll do!"

"He won't tell you anything. He's not who you think," John shook his head.

"Oh really? So what is he? A gremlin? Should I never feed him after midnight!" I shot back acidly.

John put up his hands in defeat and confessed, "He's not the one who kissed you on the back of the neck in your hotel room the other night."

I stopped nursing my jaw and stared at him. John was aware of the whole "spider in the bed" incident, but I hadn't told him anything about thinking it were a kiss, even after I explained the whole story about Bryan.

"How do you know about that? Did Bryan tell you?" I asked suspiciously.

John shook his head and told me, "Bryan is not human. He's my Shadow and he reflects everything that I'm feeling and thinking. It's also why he can change shape and why he can read your mind."

I was aware of the story of Peter Pan and how his Shadow could detach from him and take on a life of its own. I remembered his Shadow crept into Wendy's room and taunted Peter, causing him to cry, which is how he and Wendy first met.

"No, I don't believe it," I shook my head even as I felt the truth.

"Yes it is," John said, "Bryan is not Peter Pan. I am."

**THE END**


End file.
